Echo Volume 3: The Dialectic of Agony By Kent Wayne Review!

Echo Volume 3: The Dialectic of Agony (2017) by Kent Wayne is the third book in the Echo series.

Crusader Kischan Atriya is back and is on an action-packed and soul-searching journey. His mentor Chrysalis Verus is also back and while they spend most of this book apart, they do come together briefly as the book nears its conclusion. Actually that scene where they do pulls deeply at the heartstrings and is beautifully written. The book is great in terms of imagery and you really do get a sense of all the places in Echo that both Atriya and Verus find themselves in. Very vivid. The whole world of Echo is very creative but still often reflects our world in the present in so many ways. There is much action but this book does centre more on the emotional side of things than books 1 and 2. Atriya in particular is doing a lot of thinking about his life and his feelings on how he sees things. If you are a bit of an overthinker like me, you will find yourself relating a bit to his journey in this book and probably for that reason I took to this book more than the first even though I enjoyed them too. There is so much psychological thinking in this book and the inner thoughts of Atriya about the phoniness often present in Echo and whether or not he can conform to the society of Echo and what is found acceptable or not.

I think the entire series has been great so far but I think readers who like action will prefer books 1 & 2 while readers who are into questioning things to come to a conclusion will probably prefer book 3. In saying that, there is a bit of both in the three books and I actually love these two things being combined in the books because for some unknown reason many authors don’t often combine these two things in books. Each of these books are standalone books but even better as a collection.

I was delighted to see Verus back. I think she is fantastic. Very strong, very loyal, very gutsy and her humour is quite good too when she gets going. Both Atriya and Verus can at times be quite flawed characters. They can get a bit violent at times but I think it’s all done with the feeling of needing to survive. Self-defence really so I don’t hold it against them. If your back is against the wall, what are you going to do? And they have been trained to survive in this way. I also like that they both fight other people without gender discrimination. Atriya fights both men and women and how many times have we seen in books men saying they wouldn’t fight a woman and pass it off as chivalry when really it’s just condescending? In saying that, I wouldn’t like to get into a physical fight with either of them!

Atriya’s speech near the end without giving too much away is fantastic. I loved that. What a dude! I also loved the idea of sunglasses being primitive which presents to readers that in years to come items we use will have went out of fashion. I also love Atriya’s and Verus’ relationship. It is so lovely and often heartbreaking to read and you definitely find yourself rooting for them.

I’m looking forward to book 4 in the series Echo Volume 4: The Last Edge of Darkness. The book is the final book in the series and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out.

To purchase Echo Volume 3: The Dialectic of Agony by Kent Wayne go to:

To read my review on Echo Volume 1: Approaching Shatter and get details on where to purchase it go to:

https://culturevultureexpress.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/echo-volume-1-approaching-shatter-by-kent-wayne-review/

To read my review on Echo Volume 2: The Taste of Ashes and get details on where to purchase it go to:

https://culturevultureexpress.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/echo-volume-2-the-taste-of-ashes-by-kent-wayne-review/

And for more information on Kent Wayne and his work go to:

https://dirtyscifibuddha.com/

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Echo Volume 2: The Taste of Ashes By Kent Wayne Review!

 

Echo Volume 2: The Taste of Ashes (2016) by Kent Wayne is the second installment in the Echo trilogy. It is a slightly more introspective book with more focus given to the action but is just as intriguing as the first outing.

Now first thing’s first, you will need to have read the first book in the trilogy before this one to understand what is happening in this book so that’s definitely something I’d recommend because otherwise you might be lost. Our protagonist Atriya continues his introspective, spiritual journey as he heads into the Wastes which is a dangerous area where murderers, rapists, gangs and cannibals are lurking around. The book is very detailed and gives the reader a real sense of what war must be like. It’s a very visual book.

One of the scenes which sticks with me is the murder of the homeless man near the beginning of the book. It’s very horrifying and shows the dangers of been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The book very much shows the good and evil in society throughout in a very real way. The reader also gets a great inside into Atrya’s mind through his introspection and all the conflicts he faces in the various situations he finds himself in.

The entire book is set in one day. From a writer’s perspective, I have to say that it shows remarkable talent to be able to fill so much detail and scenes into just 24 hours. Kent does an excellent job of that in this book. The writing has a great sense of cohesiveness. This book is very gritty and violent and it shows how fragile life is and how to some people other peoples’ lives aren’t worth much. And this is one of the many things that cause Atriya so much conflict in his head. From someone who has never been to war, and has no plans to go, it gives you a sense of what it must be like from afar and instills in the reader even more admiration for the people who do go to war in real-life because there’s a lot of braveness in that even if one’s a pacifist.

Yet again, another stunningly crafted book. Lots of action and yet lots of drama and human aspects too. Loved it and looking forward to book 3!

To purchase Echo Volume 2: The Taste of Ashes by Kent Wayne go to:

To read my review on Echo Volume 1: Approaching Shatter and get details on where to purchase it go to:

https://culturevultureexpress.wordpress.com/2017/11/23/echo-volume-1-approaching-shatter-by-kent-wayne-review/

And for more information on Kent Wayne’s work go to:

https://dirtyscifibuddha.com/

Echo Volume 1: Approaching Shatter By Kent Wayne Review!

 

 

Echo Volume 1: Approaching Shatter by Kent Wayne (2015) is a wonderful and gripping read with excellent descriptive detail. Set in the latter part of the 21st century, humans have left Earth and are now residing on a planet called Echo. 1200 years pass and the citizens living on Echo are being suppressed by society while the authority called the Regime rules over them. A large rebel group called the Dissidents are a source of concern for the police and military. Amongst all the chaos we find the protagonist Atriya, a former enforcer, whose idealist nature is in contrast with the oppression surrounding him.

It is a very action packed novel with detailed observation by the central character. As I read, I was reminded of Tom Rob Smith’s writing. Wayne has that same attention to detail which easily paints a picture of the various locations and characters in your mind as well as making a lot of information a reader needs to know accessible and easy to follow. There’s a lot of fictional military rank structures and Wayne makes it very easy to follow even for readers like me who wouldn’t have clue about how structures of rank work. The story also has an underlying social commentary element to it. You can’t help seeing similarities to our own world with those above and below the law but done in a fictional sci-fi way. It speaks about inequality, power struggles and oppression in society and how people often turn a blind eye to it to advance even though they can see the world is in a state of decay. It also represents in parts how people get socially-conditioned to a certain way of life and can’t understand when people bring up change or progress. Wayne also wonderfully captures the inner turmoil and confusion many people feel about this resistance to change structures and attitudes through the central character and I could definitely relate to that. But my favorite character and the character I identified with the most was Verus. She’s just this ordinary woman but really gutsy and seems to go for what she wants as opposed to what she thinks society wants for her and I hope to see her more in later books of the series.

A very interesting author biography is also included with the story as are the first three chapters of book 2 in the series which looks really good.

All in all, a brilliant read which leaves the reader wanting to see how Atriya’s journey continues and the story progresses in the follow-up novels.

To purchase Echo Volume 1: Approaching Shatter by Kent Wayne go to:

And for more information on Kent Wayne’s work go to:

https://dirtyscifibuddha.com/